Finding Dory review: Finding Nemo sequel starring Ellen DeGeneres is another glorious Pixar adventure that avoids feeling like a cash-in July 27, 2016 The title "Finding Dory" evokes a bunch of franchise-happy studio execs sitting around, looking at financial statements and wondering how to come up with a sequel given that Nemo is no longer missing. The film's laboured opening scenes do little to dissipate this odour of a cash-in: we meet young Dory (Sloane Murray), being taught [...]
Galvin at The Athenaeum: the brothers are on top form again with their latest Mayfair venture July 26, 2016 I’d been planning a self-congratulatory column when I reached 100 restaurant reviews for City PM but I took my eye off the ball and now we're up to number 105. When the centenary klaxon should have been sounding, I was too busy drooling over the tinned black pudding at Six Portland Road. So I’ll spare you [...]
Mark Hix on how to make Middle Eastern cheese labneh at home and keep it as a snack July 26, 2016 You have probably had labneh in Middle Eastern restaurants as a part of a mezze selection, but have you tried actually making it yourself at home? I'm a big fan and quite often have it hanging in my fridge. It's a really tasty and cheap alternative to a soft goats cheese or curd. It's a [...]
Working Lunch review: Searcys at The Gherkin has turned itself into a brasserie on the French Riviera for six weeks July 26, 2016 Searcys at The Gherkin 30 St Mary Axe, EC3 WHAT? Fine dining atop everyone’s favourite pickled cucumber, with impressive views over the City through its iconic lattice beams. Retro stripey sun loungers and carts packed with Provencal produce decorate the 40th floor bar in honour of its six-week Summer Riviera pop-up, which also comes with a [...]
Volvo V90 review: Swede dreams really are made of this July 25, 2016 Sweden’s two great carmakers, Saab and Volvo, have met very different fates. The former was declared bankrupt and production ended in 2014. The latter, on the other hand, is experiencing a glorious renaissance, funded by Chinese money and spearheaded by the brilliant XC90 SUV. Swede dreams, indeed. While the XC90 is Volvo’s halo model, its [...]
Volvo V90 D5 AWD review: The Swedes finally go into battle with the all-conquering Germans with their new estate car July 25, 2016 Sweden’s two great carmakers, Saab and Volvo, have met very different fates. The former was declared bankrupt and production ended in 2014. The latter, on the other hand, is experiencing a glorious renaissance, funded by Chinese money and spearheaded by the brilliant XC90 SUV. Swede dreams, indeed. While the XC90 is Volvo’s halo model, its [...]
Sloth-spotting in the heart of the Costa Rican rainforest is becoming a popular pastime with Brits July 25, 2016 The internet is responsible for reviving many things that should be extinct: men’s rights activism, the music career of Rick Astley and, less unpleasantly, everybody’s favourite endangered species, the sloth. Despite the fact they can barely drag themselves across a road, these smiley slow-coaches have somehow managed to take over the world wide web. Time [...]
A long weekend in Lucerne, Switzerland, a place of almost unimaginable beauty July 22, 2016 Where: Cradle of local hero William Tell, home of Wagner, Lucerne is a cobalt, lakeside idyll, ringed by mythical snow- capped mountains, a gorgeous Swiss City with a medieval Altstadt (Old Town), historic covered bridges, cobbled squares where perfectly conserved Gothic, Baroque and Renaissance houses, decorated with mosaics, jostle together inside towering city walls. First made [...]
Opinion: Sotheby’s International Realty UK’s Robin Paterson on the benefits of Brexit on the London housing market July 21, 2016 In just four weeks the UK is already recovering from the ‘post Brexit dip’. We have seen the pound to euro exchange rate bounce back and we have seen our political dismay begin to correct itself with the welcome and surprisingly swift appointment of our new Prime Minister. We cannot deny that, in the first [...]
Holiday Homes: The modern glass houses surrounding the golf resorts of Quinta do Lago in Portugal are worth millions July 21, 2016 Overlooking the Golfe green at the five star Portuguese resort of Quinta do Lago are four houses – all, at first glance, the epitome of the “escape to the sun” idyll. Three of them, recently built by the same developer, are large, ultra-modern glass homes that wouldn’t look out of place on BBC’s Grand Designs, [...]
